The best books for children out now: IS THIS A PLUM? by Dan and Finn Ojari, ALEX ABBOTT
IS THIS A PLUM? by Dan and Finn Ojari (Puffin £8.99, 40pp)
Award-winning animator Dan Ojari created this witty, interactive picture book with his eight-year-old son Finn and what a winning combination it’s proved.
The opening page asks whether the pinky-purple shape seen through a cut-out window is a plum but it’s revealed to be a hippo’s bum!
Cut-out shapes on following pages reveal a spider to be a tiger, a house to be a mouse, a goose to be a moose until a surprise twist at the end.
It’s deceptively simple but teaches that things aren’t necessarily what they seem and encourages little fingers to explore. It’s a beautifully illustrated book to treasure.
2+
Alex Abbott is (Un)dead is available now from the Mail Bookshop
ALEX ABBOTT IS (UN)DEAD by Louise Austin Illustrated by Katie Kear (Macmillan £7.99, 288pp)
After dying in an accident, 11-year-old Alex is turned into a vampire by his ghostly neighbour and returned home. Only his parents know the secret he must hide from his friends, but he’s determined to find a ‘cure’ to be human again.
However, he unwittingly destroys an ancient pact between spirits and dark powers are released. An odyssey to Sicily to make amends and reverse the curse involves battling Vulcan, a fire demon….
This debut is blood-curdlingly funny, full of energy and fangtastic characters. As the first in a series, there’s plenty more adventurous to come.
8+
https://books.mailshop.co.uk/piper-at-the-gates-of-dusk-9781529528992/
PIPER AT THE GATES OF DUSK by Patrick Ness (Walker books £16.99, 352pp)
This powerful start to a new series takes us back to Ness’s award-winning Chaos Walking trilogy – but 20 years have passed.
Todd and Viola now have sons Max and Ben, who can’t speak after being cured of the Noise (the male-only affliction that means thoughts can be heard). But as fiery figures come screaming from the forest and children are afflicted with nightmares, fear spreads that New World is under attack.
The two boys alternate the narration, confronting themes of prejudice, colonisation, gender identity and abuse of power and readers will be left guessing to the last cliff-hanger page…
It can be read as a stand-alone but Chaos Walking fans will be thrilled by the return of this dark, dystopian drama.
12+